I have a bad feeling towards sacd disc players. I dug up the web and I found tons of info that after a certain use all players will refuse to read the sacd layer of a hybrid disc. No matter what manufacturer, what laser, what transport. It is only a question of time when the laser weakens and can't catch up the layer what we buy the discs for. I also own a player which surrendered and laser is not available any more. Another fact is that for compatibility reasons almost all sacd discs are hybrid we know the story.Don't misunderstand me I like the physical format. I would not go to PC listening if I could avoid. But at the moment I am afraid of investing a pile of money into a player which will die in three years of time. Second-hand players are risky.What are you thoughts? How do you see the situation? Please share you opinion any inputs are welcome.

I have a bad feeling towards sacd disc players. I dug up the web and I found tons of info that after a certain use all players will refuse to read the sacd layer of a hybrid disc. No matter what manufacturer, what laser, what transport. It is only a question of time when the laser weakens and can't catch up the layer what we buy the discs for. I also own a player which surrendered and laser is not available any more. Another fact is that for compatibility reasons almost all sacd discs are hybrid we know the story.Don't misunderstand me I like the physical format. I would not go to PC listening if I could avoid. But at the moment I am afraid of investing a pile of money into a player which will die in three years of time. Second-hand players are risky.What are you thoughts? How do you see the situation? Please share you opinion any inputs are welcome.

Regards

What you have written is somewhat true for some of the early generation players. However it is not true for new and currently available players like the Oppo's and Marantz's, which you can buy with confidence.

What you have written is somewhat true for some of the early generation players. However it is not true for new and currently available players like the Oppo's and Marantz's, which you can buy with confidence.

An example: also read about a Pioneer PD-D9J that ceased after only 3 years (!) of use. This unit was released in 2008 if I am correct. Does this counts a newer generation machine on not (not like early Sonys eg.)?

I have a bad feeling towards sacd disc players. I dug up the web and I found tons of info that after a certain use all players will refuse to read the sacd layer of a hybrid disc. No matter what manufacturer, what laser, what transport. It is only a question of time when the laser weakens and can't catch up the layer what we buy the discs for. I also own a player which surrendered and laser is not available any more. Another fact is that for compatibility reasons almost all sacd discs are hybrid we know the story.Don't misunderstand me I like the physical format. I would not go to PC listening if I could avoid. But at the moment I am afraid of investing a pile of money into a player which will die in three years of time. Second-hand players are risky.What are you thoughts? How do you see the situation? Please share you opinion any inputs are welcome.

Regards

Although player reliability isn't the main reason why I rip all discs for playback via my mac mini - including SACDs - what you say is a good reminder that as long as I back up my rips, my music will never become obsolete because the software and hardware to play SACD rips is almost ubiquitous - even if the hardware to rip SACD is anything but!

Interesting comments. I have a Pioneer DV-LX50 (dating from around 2008 I believe) which, touch wood, was working fine last time I used it. It's a fine player (and can pay DVD Audio as well), but it's currently languishing a bit unloved near the bottom of the hi-fi rack, SACD duties having been taken over by an Oppo BDP-83SE, which is excellent and of course can play Blu-Ray audio as well as SACD & DVD-A. The only problem with replacing lasers, as far as I can see, is cost vs value of the machine.

I have a Sony C222es and a couple of Oppo's. The Sony is picky sometimes and even then only certain disks are singled out. Obtaining a laser for this model is pretty easy, and they are cheap, and I am not worried about it.

One of the Oppo's stopped playing, but $50 later, Oppo fixed it and it's all good again. Oppo will fix, cheaply, all of their old players, even the 105 and 103 are about $100 maximum to fix. Look at their website or call them. Buy an Oppo and have a good night sleep.

Just because a newer Marantz kicked the bucket doesn't mean that every single new player is a lemon waiting to be discovered. There are others things to worry about.

p.s.

I just noticed that you are in Hungary. Shipping to the USA is probably expensive, and I know it probably sounds like a broken record, but I would just buy an Oppo, it it's possible, they are very popular.

The Marantz DV-9600 formerly in my system operated flawlessly for at least 5 years of steady service. When I sold it last year, there were only one or two SACDs (and RBCDs) in my collection that it couldn't read. Repair was available (and still is available), but I sold it and moved on to newer players.

Marantz and Oppo both have strong reputations for providing service and stocking parts for older models.

My Denon 3930, purchased in 2007, was fine at first but as time went by more and more Hybrid SACDs would refuse to play until it reached the point where virtually none of them cooperate.In the process of replacing the laser but it's not working 100% either.The supplier is sending another laser but have resigned myself to the fact this player may never work properly again.From a reliability & customer service standpoint I think the Oppo might be the best bet.

My Denon 3930, purchased in 2007, was fine at first but as time went by more and more Hybrid SACDs would refuse to play until it reached the point where virtually none of them cooperate.In the process of replacing the laser but it's not working 100% either.The supplier is sending another laser but have resigned myself to the fact this player may never work properly again.From a reliability & customer service standpoint I think the Oppo might be the best bet.

This is a typical example what I am trying to describe here. Worst case you can't get laser any more and replacement is not straight forward either. What a pity.